US President Donald Trump and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg will hold a joint press conference at the White House on April 12 after a bilateral meeting.
Trump is expected to address his key concern about NATO, that in his opinion, other countries aren’t adequately funding the alliance and that the US is paying an unfair proportion of its costs.
“But our partners must meet their financial obligations,” Trump said in February. “We expect our partners, whether in NATO, in the Middle East, or the Pacific, to take a direct and meaningful role in both strategic and military operations, and pay their fair share of the cost.”
The bilateral meeting comes one day after Trump signed off Montenegro’s NATO membership. In March, the US Senate approved Montenegro’s membership bid by 97 to 2. The US was among the last of NATO’s 28 member countries to ratify Montenegro’s accession.
